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Russian officials suspend controversial Yekaterinburg church plan as Putin suggests polling public

Matthew Luxmoore
RFE/RL
Thu, 16 May 2019 16:48 UTC
Yekaterinburg protests

Russian riot police detain activists protesting on May 15 against a plan to build an Orthodox church in a park in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg
The mayor of Russia's fourth largest city says construction work on a proposed new church, which sparked three days of protests, has been temporarily halted, hours after President Vladimir Putin said residents should be consulted in an opinion poll.

The announcement by Yekaterinburg Mayor Aleksandr Vysokinsky was the latest development in a protest campaign that has rocked the Urals city and drawn support from across Russia.

Thousands have protested against city plans to build a replica of a cathedral demolished by Soviet authorities in a popular central park, with 100 people arrested over the past three days.

Activists complain that the park is one of the few green spaces remaining the city, and have called for the development to be sited elsewhere.
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Eye 1

Now-dead Ohio State doctor accused of abusing at least 177 students

Kantele Franko and Julie Carr Smyth
ABC News
Fri, 17 May 2019 12:38 UTC
Dr. Richard Strauss
A now-dead Ohio State team doctor sexually abused at least 177 male students over nearly two decades, and university officials knew what he was doing and did little to stop him, according to an investigative report released by the school Friday.

Dr. Richard Strauss committed the abuse from 1979 to 1997 - nearly his entire time at Ohio State - in episodes involving athletes from at least 16 sports, plus his work at the student health center and his off-campus clinic, the report said.

The report on Strauss, who took his life in 2005, could cost the university heavily by bolstering the lawsuits brought against it by a multitude of victims.

The findings put Strauss in a league with gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of Michigan State University, who was accused of molesting at least 250 women and girls and is serving what amounts to a life sentence. Michigan State ultimately agreed to a $500 million settlement with his victims.
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Info

Bayer hopes that a 'silver bullet defense' will save it from Roundup lawsuits


RT
Fri, 17 May 2019 16:55 UTC
Bayer AG
© Reuters / Wolfgang Rattay
German pharmaceutical firm Bayer plans to argue that a $2 billion jury award and thousands of US lawsuits claiming its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup causes cancer should be dropped.

The company points to a US regulatory agency's provision that the herbicide is not a public health risk. On Wednesday, Bayer said it will argue that the lawsuits, which are brought under state law, conflict with guidance from a federal agency, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Back in 1985, the watchdog labeled glyphosate a carcinogen, reversing its position later in 1991. Last month, the EPA reaffirmed prior guidance saying that glyphosate is not a carcinogen and not a risk to public health when used in accordance with its current label.

Under the legal doctrine of preemption, state law claims are barred if they conflict with federal law.

"We have very strong arguments that the claims here are preempted... and the recent EPA registration decision is an important aspect of that defense," said William Hoffman, one of Bayer's lawyers.

Comment: See also:

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Airplane

F-16 pilot ejects before plane crashes into Southern California warehouse

Alex Johnson and Andrew Blankstein
NBC News
Thu, 16 May 2019 16:42 UTC
F-16 fighter jet
© Ethan Miller / Getty Images file
An F-16 fighter jet on a training mission crashed into a warehouse as it approached to land at March Air Reserve Base in Southern California on Thursday, authorities said. The pilot, who ejected safely, and at least 11 other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The jet crashed off base on Opportunity Way in Riverside County, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, at about 3:45 p.m., base officials told NBC News. Hazardous materials crews were securing potential hazards, including ordnance that may have been on the aircraft, military and state officials said.

Aerial video of the scene showed a broad hole in the roof of a large warehouse-like building bearing the logo of See Water Inc., which manufactures pumps, controls and other equipment for the water and wastewater industries. Authorities were examining a white and orange parachute along the roadside, in an industrial area of warehouses and large businesses near Interstate 215.

Comment:







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Red Flag

French incomes place below some of America's poorest states — and the protesters know it

Ryan McMaken
Mises Institute
Wed, 15 May 2019 16:40 UTC
yellow vests
With the rise of the Yellow Vest Movement in France - which began last October and continues today - French activists and writers have begun to re-evaluate the state of French income and poverty. Since the movement began, articles with titles such as "Revealed: The shocking scale of poverty in France in 2018" or "Soul-searching in France as poverty leaves one million children hungry" have become more overtly political given the context of the protests.

Typically, the government's response to accusations of widespread poverty - which, as in America, are not necessarily accurate accusations - has been to spend more money on social programs.

But here's the thing: France is already spending more than the rest of Europe when it comes to welfare programs. According to the OECD, when it comes to "public social spending" as a percentage of GDP, France tops the list at over 31 percent.

In contrast, Swedish social spending is 26 percent of GDP, while Germany and Norway come in at 25 percent. Switzerland is near the bottom of the list at 16 percent, while the US is at 18 percent.
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Pills

5 states sue opioid maker, alleging unlawful marketing fueled epidemic

Zack Budryk
The Hill
Fri, 17 May 2019 16:37 UTC
pills
Five state attorneys general announced a lawsuit against the company that manufacturers OxyContin Thursday, accusing the drugmaker, Purdue Pharma, of exacerbating the opioid epidemic through illegal marketing tactics.

"This lawsuit reveals many years of painstaking investigation," West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) said in a statement. "The senseless death and ruined lives of untold thousands must stop. Our complaint alleges that the company used false and misleading information to deceive medical personnel and patients. They must be held accountable."

Morrisey filed the lawsuit, which also names former Purdue CEO Richard Sackler, with the attorneys general (AGs) of Iowa, Kansas, Maryland and Wisconsin. The plaintiffs allege Purdue and Sackler employed deceptive marketing that misrepresented the the drug's potential for abuse, despite findings by federal regulators that its abuse-deterrent properties did nothing to prevent swallowing it, the most common form of abuse, according to Morrisey.
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Black Magic

Border security? Islamist fanatic boasts of sneaking into Canada to KILL 'blasphemer' Asia Bibi who fled Pakistan


Sputnik
Wed, 15 May 2019 12:58 UTC
protest Pakistan Asia Bibi
© Agence France Presse/Aamir Qureshi
In this file photo taken on November 2, 2018 a Pakistani supporter of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), a hardline religious party, holds an image of Christian woman Asia Bibi during a protest rally following the Supreme Court's decision to acquit Bibi of blasphemy, in Islamabad
Asia Bibi spent nine years on death row in a Pakistani prison after being falsely accused of blasphemy - a grave crime in the South Asian country. In 2018, she was finally acquitted and released to the great displeasure of many in a conservative region of the Islamic country.

An unidentified Islamist has published a video in which he claims to have followed Asia Bibi, a Christian who barely escaped hanging in her homeland of Pakistan over blasphemy accusations, to Canada with the intent to murder her. The anonymous individual insists in the video that "blasphemer" Asia Bibi would receive an award in Canada and would repeat her sacrilegious statements on Islam.

Comment:

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Eye 1

Big brother Britain: Facial recognition cameras deployed in London, man fined for covering his face

Mark Duell
Daily Mail
Thu, 16 May 2019 11:29 UTC
facial recognition london

Campaigners say the use of the technology (file image) is a step too far towards a police state
Police fined a pedestrian £90 for disorderly behaviour after he tried to cover his face when he saw a controversial facial recognition camera on a street in London.

Officers set up the camera on a van in Romford, East London, which then cross-checked photos of faces of passers-by against a database of wanted criminals.

But one man was unimpressed about being filmed and covered his face with his hat and jacket, before being stopped by officers who took his picture anyway.

Comment: If the technology will be used openly with uniformed officers, then career criminals are likely to just avoid the area. What this is really about is acclimatizing the public to totalitarian style surveillance. Any actual rise in crime is likely caused by a decade of government 'austerity' has slashed public spending (although, obviously, taxes continue to rise) and the disparity between rich and poor continues apace. One can imagine that Macron's government in France, which has seen over 26 weeks of protests over government corruption, would find technology like this extremely useful..



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Attention

Gates Foundation funded "Fact-Checker" (POLITIFACT) censors GreenMedInfo on Facebook for reposting accurate vaccine meme

Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo
Wed, 15 May 2019 14:45 UTC
greenmedinfo censored facebook


Recently, Politifact.com, a website run by the Poynter Institute and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ran an article titled, "No, anti-vaccination meme is way off on vaccine testing," claiming that the meme below which we posted to our Facebook page on April 15th was false.

vaccine untested meme

Comment: Facebook and other social media platforms have a long history of censoring 'inconvenient truths' under the banner of 'fake news'. Labelling true claims as false is the epitome of censorship and the pushing of a preferred ideology over truth. Welcome to the dystopian future.

See also:

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TV

Actress Julianne Moore calls for gender quotas for the movie industry


Time Magazine
Wed, 15 May 2019 23:54 UTC
Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore said Wednesday that larger efforts are needed in order for the movie industry to reach gender parity, and that means implementing quotas.

"We will not have gender parity unless everybody is cooperating. Women are not a special interest group. We're 52 percent of the global population," Moore said during an event at the Cannes Film Festival. "In order to restore the balance, I do think that there will be, that we will need some measures to change our culture."

"We will have to make major changes to reach parity. That's just a fact. So, I do believe in quotas. I really do," added Moore. "I believe in trying to level the playing field for everybody regardless of their gender or their culture or ethnicity. You have to open doors."

Comment: There's nothing like an overprivileged Hollywood star claiming to be a part of the downtrodden masses.

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